Air-liquid parking meter



June 3, 1969 s. R. DAMY 3,447,654

AIR-LIQUID PARKING METER Filed Dec. 1, 1967 Sheet of 4 5. R. DAMY June 3, 1969 AIR-LIQU ID PARKING METER Sheet 2 of 4 Filed Dec. 1, 1967 S. R. DAMY AIR-LIQUID PARKING METER Sheet June 3, 1969 Filed Dec. 1, 19 67 June 3, s R. DAMY AIR-LIQUID PARKING METER Sheet Filed Dec. 1, 1967 1 Z MM 7 Mid/MM V M n United States Patent 3,447,654 AIR-LIQUID PARKING METER Sergio Ren Damy, Apartado Postal 2041, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Filed Dec. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 687,181 Claims priority, application2Mexic0, Dec. 5, 1966,

2 Int. Cl. G071? 3/02 US. Cl. 194-102 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coin operated parking meter including a cup-like piston adapted to be raised a predetermined distance upon insertion of a coin. The coin slot is constructed to prevent undersized coins from actuating the piston. The cup-like piston is located in a closed air system and has a liquid seal between the interior of the piston and the remainder of the system. A conduit is provided to transfer air from the top of the piston to the interior thereof upon upward movement of said piston. A meter valve is provided in the conduit to control the rate of flow of air between the interior of the piston and the remaining part of said system upon movement of said piston downwardly to its original position. Indicators are furnished to show the location of the cup-like piston.

Summary of the invention This invention is concerned with an energy escapement device and more particularly with a coin operated energy escapement device useful as a timing mechanism and especially as a parking meter.

An object of this invention is a coin operated parking meter utilizing a hydropneumatic timing mechanism.

Another object is a parking meter in which the coin provides the energy to operate the time indicating, energy escapement mechanism.

Another object is a parking meter in which the accumulated time is increased by each coin which is inserted in the meter.

Another object is a parking meter in which the time mechanism utilizes a gravity actuated cup-like piston.

Another object is an energy escapement mechanism in which the rate of escape may be easily adjusted.

Another object is a coin slot mechanism which prevents undersized coins from actuating the timing mechanism.

Other objects may be found in the following specification, claims and drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a parking meter built in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the meter of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partial front elevational view of the mechanism of the parking meter of FIGURE 1 with some parts omitted for clarity, others shown in cross-section, and others broken away;

FIGURE 4 is a partial top plan view of the structure of FIGURE 3 with parts omitted for clarity;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure of FIGURE 3 with some parts omitted and others broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 7;

3,447,654 Patented June 3, 1969 FIGURE 9 is a partial side elevational view of the structure of FIGURE 3 with some parts broken away; and

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional View taken along line 10-10 of FIGURE 9.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, the numeral 21 indicates a parking meter housing which is generally rectangular in cross-section. Glass covered openings 23 and 25 may be formed in the housing to permit visual access to the interior thereof. An opening 27 to receive a coin slot may also be formed in the housing.

Referring to FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6, a smaller airtight housing 31 is positioned interiorly of the parking meter housing 21 and is supported on channels 33, 35 and 37 which are attached to the housing 21. The airtight housing 31 includes side walls 43 and 45, end walls 47 and 49, a bottom wall 51 and a top wall 53. An open bottom cup-like container or piston 55 is positioned in the airtight housing 31 for vertical movement therein. This open bottom container or piston is formed by a top wall 57, side walls 59 and 61 and end walls 63 and 65. A tubular rod 67 is attached to the top wall 57 by a headed screw 68. This rod extends through a sleeve 71 attached to the top wall 53 of the airtight housing 31. A fluid, such as oil 73, is placed in the airtight housing 31 to act as a seal for the open bottom container 55. Suflicient oil is provided so that it will cover the lower edges of the side and end walls of the open bottom container 55 when this container is raised its maximum distance above the bottom wall 51 of the airtight container. Feet 75 are provided at the bottom corners of the container 55 to maintain the bottom edges of the side and end walls of the container above the surface of the bottom wall 51.

A second and smaller housing 77 is positioned inside the airtight housing 31 on the bottom wall 51 where it is telescoped by the open bottom container 55. This second housing includes a top wall 79, side walls 81 and 83 and end walls 85 and 87. The height of the second housing 77 is less than the height of the open bottom container 55 so that a space remains between the top wall 79 of this housing and the top wall 57 of the container 55. The height of this container is also less than that of the normal level of oil 73 in the housing 31. An opening 89 is formed in the top wall 79 of the second housing and a tubular sleeve 91 extends through this opening to a point above the highest level of the oil 73. A cap 93 of hexagonal cross-section fits over the top of the sleeve 91 and rests on the top wall 79 of the second housing 77 in the oil 73. An actuating rod 95 is connected to the cap 93. This rod is guided for movement by an eye 97 of a guide rod 99 located above the cap, a cross brace 101 located in the base of the tubular sleeve 91, and a sleeve 103. The guide rod 99 is attached to side wall 87 of the second housing 77 and sleeve 103 extends through and is supported on bottom wall 51 of the airtight housing 31.

An opening 111 is provided in the side wall 45 of the airtight housing 31. This opening is located above the uppermost posi'ion of the piston 55. Another opening 113 is formed in the bottom wall 51 of the housing 31 interiorly of the second housing 77. These openings are connected by a conduit 115 constructed on the exterior of the side and bottom walls of the housing 31. This conduit provides an unobstructed air path from the interior of the airtight housing 31 to the interior of the second housing 77.

An air metering valve 121 having an adjustment screw 123 is supported on the outside of the housing 31 by a bracket 125. A tubular conduit 129 extends from the inside of the cup-like piston 55 above the oil level 73,

through the second housing 77 and out through the opening 113 in the base of the housing 31 to the air valve 121. A portion of the tubular conduit 129 located interiorly of the housing 77 is supported by bracket 130 attached to end wall 85 of housing 77. A second tubular conduit 131 extends from this valve into the conduit 115.

A coin receiving structure 141 is mounted in the parking meter housing 21 (FIGURES 1, 3, 9 and An in let 143 to this structure extends out of the parking meter housing through the opening 27 (FIGURE 1). The inlet leads to a coin track 145. The coin track is inclined to the vertical and has an upper guide 147 and a lower guide 149 against which a coin will rest when inserted into the track through inlet 143. If the diameter of the coin is lessthan the spacing between guides 147 and 149, the coin tilts even more to the right, as seen in FIG- URE 3, as it rolls down the coin track. If the coin is tilted beyond the inclination of the coin track, it will pass through opening 151 (FIGURE 10) between guide 149 and partition 153 and into reject track 155 which leads to a vault (not shown). The proper size coins which are guided in track 145 will continue into a vertical actuator track 157 and engage a finger 159 formed at the end of a rod 161.

Rod 161 connects to an arm 163 which extends from a beam 165 (FIGURES 3 and 4) pivotally mounted on stanchions 167 supported on the top wall 53 of the airtight housing 31. The beam 165 is operatively connected by rods 168 to a ratchet member 169 (shown in detail in FIGURES 7 and 8) which is operatively connected to the rod 67 of the piston 55: The ends of the rods 168 are pivotally mounted in the beam 165 and in the ratchet member 169. Upward movement of the ratchet member 169 lifts balls 171 and forces them between the sloping walls thereof and the rod 67 to lift this rod. A U-shaped stop bar 172 is connected to the rods 168 and is adapted to contact a stop plate 173 mounted on bracket 174. A counterweight 175 is provided to return the beam and arm back to their at rest position, while the rod 67 and piston 55 are maintained in their raised position by the air pressure trapped between the container 55 and the second housing 77. Screws 177 and 179 are adjustable to limit the movements of the beam.

Scales 181 to indicate the amount of movement of the rod 67 and the piston 55 are mounted on the sides of the airtight container 31. Pointers 183 are connected to the rod 67 by arms 185 so as to move along with it and indicate on the scales 181 the amount of movement of the rod. Flags 187 are mounted on the arms 188 attached to the beam 165 to move with this arm and indicate actuation of the timing device. A second fiag 189 is mounted on the rod 67 and indicates when the rod 67 is in its lowered position. A weight 191 is provided to return flag 189 to its lowered position.

The use, operation and function of the invention are as follows:

The parking meter shown in the drawings is one use of the energy escapement of this invention. The parking meter is shown in its unactuated condition. As a coin is inserted in the inlet 143 to the coin track 145, it is inclined to the vertical (FIGURES 1 and 3). If the coin is of sufiicient width, it will engage the guides 147 and 149 and roll down the track 145, as shown in FIGURE 9, past the partition 153 and into the vertical track 157 where it will engage the finger 159 connected to the rod 161. If the coin is of smaller diameter than the spacing between the guides 147 and 149, it will tilt to the right (as viewed in the drawings) even more than the normal tilt of the track and as the coin rolls down the track, it will hit the partition 153 (FIGURE 10) and be diverted into the track 155 and around the actuating finger 159.

The coin of proper diameter which engages the finger 159 will move the finger downwardly to move the rod 161 and the attached arm 163 in a downward direction as viewed in the drawings especially in FIGURE 3.

Downward movement of the arm 163 will move the beam 165 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawings, about its pivotal connection to the stanchions 167. Counter-clockwise rotation of the beam 165 moves rods 168 upwardly which in turn lift the ratchet member 169 a predetermined distance. Upward movement of the rods 168 are limited by engagement of the stop bar 172 with the stop plate 173. Upward movement of the ratchet member 169 lifts the balls 171, as seen in FIGURE 7, by forcing them between the sloping walls of the ratchet member and the rod 67 to thereby lift the rod 67. Lifting of the rod 67 a predetermined distance also raises its connected piston 55 a predetermined distance above the bottom 51 of the airtight housing 31.

Raising of the piston 55 creates a vacuum which lifts the hexagonal cover 93 covering the tubular sleeve 91 to admit air from the inner housing 77 into the space between the piston 55 and the oil 73. As the piston 55 is moved upwardly, air above the piston is forced through the conduit and back into the interior of the inner housing 77 to replace the air which is drawn through the tube 91 into the space between the piston and the oil.

When the coin carries the finger 159 to the bottom of the track 157, the coin drops out of the track and into a vault (not shown) whereupon the counterweight 175 overcomes the weight of the arms 161 and 163 to move the beam in a clockwise direction. As the beam moves in a clockwise direction, it pulls the ractc'het 169 downwardly thereby releasing the balls 171 from contact with the rod 67. The balls are free to return to the position shown in FIGURE 7. The ratchet 169 moves freely downwardly relative to rod 67 which is held in position due to the air trapped between the cup-like piston 55 and the oil 73. Thus, the cup-like piston stays in its raised position until the trapped air is able to escape through the conduit 1'55, air regulating valve -121, and conduit .131 back into the conduit 115 and thus into the interior of the inner housing 77. The piston 55 slowly moves to its at rest position as the air escapes through the air regulating valve 121 and back into the inner housing 77.

Each coin inserted in the coin actuating mechanism will raise the rod 67 a predetermined amount until the piston reaches the position shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 5. Flags 187 are connected to the arms 188 to indicate the actuation of the meter and flag 189 is provided to show when the meter is at its bottom position indicating a violation. The pointers 183 in conjunction with the scales 181 show the amount of time remaining on the meter.

Whereas one form of the invention has been shown and described in this application, it should be realized that there are many modifications, substitutions and alterations thereto which will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading this specification.

What is claimed is:

. 1. An energy escapement and indicating device including:

an air tight housing,

an inverted cup-like piston reciprocally mounted in said housing for movement between a first and lower position and a second and raised position,

a liquid in said housing sealing the lower and open end of said cup-like piston in all positions of said piston,

a second housing positoned in said airtight housing beneath said liquid and interiorly of said cup-like piston when said piston is in said first position,

an air conduit connecting the portion of said airtight housing above said liquid with said second housing,

a second conduit connecting said second housing and the inside of said cup-like piston above said liquid with a check valve located therein to permit air flow from said second housing to the inside of said cuplike piston and to prevent air flow in the opposite direction,

a third air conduit connecting the inside of said cuplike piston and said' second housing,

an adjustable metering valve in said third air conduit,

means for lifting said cup-like piston a predetermined distance from said first position towards said second position and for releasing said cup-like piston after said lifting to move by gravity to said first position, and

means to indicate the relative position of said cup-like piston to said first position.

2. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said means for lifting said cup-like piston includes a rod connected to the piston and extending outwardly of the top of said airtight housing,

a ratchet mechanism engaging said rod,

a pivoted beam operatively connected to said ratchet member with said beam connected to a coin actuated rod,

said coin operated rod being positioned in a coin receiving and guiding chute and adapted to be lowered by engagement with a coin.

3. The structure of claim 2 further characterized in that said ratchet means includes a conical sleeve adapted to fit around said lifting rod and ball members positioned in said sleeve to be forced into engagement with said rod when said conical sleeve is lifted relative to said rod.

4. The structure of claim 2 further characterized in that said coin slot has means to reject undersize coins which includes an inclined coin track having spaced guide members and diverter means to side track any coins of lesser diameter than the spacing between said guide members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,259,985 10/1941 Arey. 2,720,922 10/1955 Bell et al.

STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Primary Examiner. 

